One more time around...

Upon arrival at my parents house, chaos reigned (we were greeted by the usual - "Oh look it's Jeannie and Kathleen. And RAY! Hi RAY! How ARE you RAY?!).

I can't really explain this phenomenon but whenever any of my family visits my parents, a state of chaos exits. It's like a tiny vortex of mayhem that grows ever bigger every time it sucks in another family member. (I have five siblings). If one of the family members in the vortex is my older sister Kathy, multiply the chaos factor by at LEAST five.

It was a very busy afternoon followed by a meal at local restaurant that included my parents as well as my brilliant, seven-year-0ld niece, Hannah, and my sister-in-law, Yuko. My brother, John, who is not a brave man, decided to stay at home because he was 'tired.'

But all of this is beside the point. Which is, during the chaotic afternoon, after I finished Ray-proofing the house,

Awkward doorjamb, Ray-proofed

dad and I were able to erect a temporary fence of stomp-in steel posts and a 50' roll of welded-wire fencing so that Ray could wander the yard unleashed. Dad's yard is huge, and most of it is already fenced, but there are a couple of tricky open areas that needed blocking, so we blocked them and then used pieces of fabric to mark them so that no one would try to walk or drive through them without noticing the fencing was there.

I'm pretty sure I used to escape this way.

Free at last

For the first time in nearly three years Ray had complete control of a really big space.

Since then, Ray has been making the most of it by burying bones wherever he wants, without some nosy Parker on the end of a leash spying on him. The problem is, with all of the extra space to chose from, Ray has trouble making up his mind exactly where to bury the bones. He wanders and wanders the yard, stopping here and there, trying to decide if the conditions are right or if maybe the spot he just passed is better.

If Hannah is around, Ray takes even more time. He is convinced that she will be behind him digging up his bones as soon as he plants them (he is right). However, Ray has found that if he takes long enough in his selection process, Hannah gets bored and goes off to do something else. So Ray has set several new records in looking for a good place to dig a hole. He made so many rounds of the yard with a bone hanging out of his mouth that Yuko finally yelled out the window to me, begging me to take Ray's bone away from him so that he could rest. (It's ironic considering the bone was a gift from her in the first place). The next time he passed, I grabbed Ray's bone and made a dash for the house. Ray chased me up the stairs and into the living room where I gave it back to him. He settled in for a nice chew and some quiet time with his favorite cousin.

Life doesn't get any better...

Exhausted after a long day of bone burying